The Third International Sevgi Gönül Byzantine Studies Symposium organized by the Vehbi Koç Foundation and Koç University Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (RCAC) took place between 24-27 June 2013, at the RCAC building. The symposium is being held in memory of late Sevgi Gönül, who helped further scientific research on the Byzantine period in Turkey and contributed greatly to the society-wide enhancement of the awareness of Byzantine cultural heritage.
This year’s theme for the symposium, which has been held every three years since 2007, was “Trade in Byzantium”. The 4-day-long symposium hosted 14 sessions, in which a total of 34 papers were presented, focusing on up-to-date findings and documents on trade in the Byzantine world in the light of recent archaeological discoveries and new readings of written sources.
As part of the symposium, two exhibitions were on display:“Stories from the Hidden Harbor: Shipwrecks of Yenikapı” at the Istanbul Archeological Museums; and “Artamonoff: Picturing Byzantine Istanbul, 1930-1947” at the RCAC.
Catalogues for both exhibitions in which the subject matters are studied in further depth, as well as a book featuring the proceedings of the “Second Sevgi GönülInternational Symposium of Byzantine Studies” held in 2010, was published in time with the symposium.